Professional Documents
Culture Documents
No. 09-13179
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ROBERT RICHARDS,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(February 2, 2010)
Before TJOFLAT, PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Robert Richards appeals his convictions for conspiracy to launder money,
Madrigal, Richards knew that Palmer talked to Madrigal through a cell phone, to
which a Mexican telephone number was assigned.
Richards admitted that he had transported cocaine to Atlanta, Georgia, on
three occasions. During the first trip, Richards obtained 60 kilograms of cocaine
from an unknown Hispanic male in Colton, southern California, delivered it to
an Hispanic male in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Atlanta, Georgia, and received
$48,000 from another Hispanic male to transport to California. During the
second trip, Richards obtained 60 kilograms of cocaine once again from an
unknown Hispanic male(s) in Colton, California, delivered the cocaine to
Rigoberto Sanchez . . . in a Costco parking lot in Atlanta, and received two
deliveries of $50,000 and $351,050. En route to California, federal agents stopped
Richards and seized the $351,050, but the agents did not arrest Richards. Richards
obtained a receipt for the money that he delivered to unknown Hispanic males in
southern California. During the third trip, Richards obtained 120 kilograms of
cocaine from Hispanic males in the Dallas, Texas area, delivered the cocaine to
Sanchez in Atlanta, and Sanchez gave Richards money to transport to California.
At trial, Palmer testified that he had transported drugs to Atlanta and drug
proceeds to Sacramento and Los Angeles and he deduced that the proceeds were
destined for Mexico. Palmer explained that Chuey superintended how the
proceeds were handled and, during one conversation, Chuey pressured Palmer to
rush his delivery so Chuey could travel to Tijuana, Mexico. Palmer stated that the
drug proceeds seized from Richardss truck were supposed to be delivered to
Mexico, but Palmer did not discuss the final destination with Richards. Palmer
testified that Madrigal was upset that the money was taken.
After the government rested, Richards argued that the government failed to
prove he laundered or conspired to launder money. Richards argued that the
district court had to assume he knew the money was delivered to Mexico based on
circumstantial evidence that the proceeds were delivered to Hispanic men, the
cocaine came from Mexico, and the dropoff points were near the Mexican border.
Richards also argued that he did not know about or join a conspiracy to deliver
money to Mexico.
The district court found Richards guilty of conspiracy to launder money and
of laundering money. 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(2)(A), (h). The district court found
the circumstantial evidence proved that the proceeds were destined for Mexico.
The court ruled that Richards did not have to know the final destination of the
proceeds either to aid and abet in laundering money or to conspire to launder. The
district court sentenced Richards to 240 months of imprisonment for his drug
crime, a concurrent term of 121 months of imprisonment for his money laundering